Till death do us part
by iHEARThyuuga
Summary: Neji and Tenten were destined to be together from the first day they met.A series of nejiten drabbles based on their life together, can be read as a continuous story but also as drabbles so yeah. Please review!
1. First steps

**These are just drabbles, which I write to practice writing Neji and Tenten, I'm gonna post one every so often so yeah, they're in order of when I wrote them, enjoy the first! **

**Disclaimer:I don't own anything **

* * *

**First Steps**

On the first day of school, someone from the family is expected to be present, to show support for the child who is entering.

No one came for him. He is not that important. He doesn't mind, of course. The last thing he wants is support from the people who murdered his father.

He strides purposefully towards the main door, the sight that meets his eyes causes him to stop, turning to examine the scene more closely.

A small girl stands underneath a tree, her hair is tied into twin buns on top of her head, which is bowed. She is completely alone. He does not know why, but he finds himself walking in her direction. She sees him and wipes her eyes with one hand.

"I'm Tenten" she grins at him.

"Hyuuga, Neji. Where are your family?"

Her smile falters and she looks down again before replying "I don't have one. And you?"

"They don't have time for someone like me" he replied. He turned to walk back towards the door, he heard her stumble as she ran to catch up with him. He felt her hand slip through the crook of his arm, holding on tight. He saw the tears threatening to leave her eyes. He didn't respond to her actions, but he didn't shake her off either. He just allowed her to remain. Firmly attached to his arm, as they took the first steps towards their future.

* * *

**Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! please review! I'll post the next one when I get one review-at least.**

**love from**

**iHEARThyuuga**

**xxx**


	2. The truth

**Hi, here is the second chapterette, I lengthened it a bit, because I listen to my reviewers. See! you should all just review right now-after you've read this obviously. so yeah this is set 1 year later than the first chapter.**

**Disclaimer:I don't own anything**

* * *

The Truth

"How does it feel, Neji-san. How does it feel to be a year older?" she grinned at him. They were in the busy streets of Konoha she had followed him home from school as usual. He pretended to ignore her as usual. She had found a way of attaining his attention, as usual.

"The same way it felt yesterday, when I was six" he replied, quickening his pace in a vain attempt to shake her off. He didn't like to hide from the truth, he felt that it was the weakest thing he could do, but he was doing it now. He finally stopped when he reached the Hyuuga compound, there had been no celebration over his birthday. It was a waste of time and effort as far as the main branch was concerned.

His father used to be the one who celebrated the passing year. Memories of birthday trips to various parts of Konoha filled his mind. The last of which had been 2 weeks before his father's death. It was in knowledge of this that Hyuuga Hizashi had taken his son to his own training ground to show him the world he was about to enter.

Neji shook his head slightly before recomposing himself and walking through the gates.

He was woken up the next morning by something hitting his window. He rolled on his side, activating his byakugan to see who it was. Shaking the remnants of sleep from his mind he stood and got dressed. He walked over to the window, opened it and jumped out. The girl sitting on the grass looked up and smiled, waving at him. Her hair was tied up in two buns.

He folded his arms across his chest and waited for her explanation.

Her grin widened before she reached into her pocket, producing a kunai.

"Lets spar!" she took his hand and pulled him out of the compound towards the same training ground his father had taken him to three years ago.

They started with the usual warm ups that they had been taught at the academy. He couldn't tear his eyes away from her as she hit the bulls eye of the target almost every throw. She couldn't suppress the rush of excitement she got when she saw him successfully execute a sequence of jyuuken.

Being only seven they were worn out after an hour, or at least she was.

She fell on to her back, laughing. She spread her arms and legs out and stared into the trees. He sat at her head with his back to her. She rolled on to her stomach and reached up pulling his hair lightly.

"Neji-san"

"Hn" he remained with his back to her

"Neji-san?" she sat up tapping him on the shoulder. He turned around meeting her eyes. "Happy... happy birthday. For yesterday I mean" she brandished the same kunai she had been training with. "Here, it's a gift for you" when he didn't take it she tucked it into the pocket of his jacket then stood up and left the training ground turning once to wave to him.

His hand went to his pocket closing around the weapon. He didn't like to hide from the truth, he felt it was the weakest thing he could do, but he was doing it now. The truth was she intrigued him. He had found new reasons to look forwards to each day. He knew the importance of learning the way of shinobi. He hungered for opportunities to increase his strength and decrease his weakness, but what he really looked forwards to was sitting next to the intriguing girl in class, watching her succeed during training and most of all sparring with her before the sun rose and before the village awoke.

* * *

**Hope you liked it! same system as last time; I'll update when I get some reviews!**

**love from**

**iHEARThyuuga**

**xxx**


	3. Fever

**So hey! thanks for reviewing! here is another one for you, it's not the best I've ever written but bare with me I'm going through a bit of an not-very-creative patch at the mo. oh well. I hope you enjoy it anyway!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own it**

* * *

Fever

The afternoon was dragging by slowly. Iruka-sensei was standing at the front of the classroom dictating about something or other. Tenten sat in her seat next to Neji, she couldn't understand a word he was saying. She could hear him but there was an odd rushing sound in her ears that made it impossible to discern what was actually being said. To be honest she'd woken up that morning feeling odd, she didn't feel ill but just odd. She felt light headed and dizzy in the classroom now but she didn't care. She had to go to school there was no other option.

Neji had been watching Tenten out of the corner of his eye all day. Her cheeks were flushed and her forehead glistened with sweat despite the freezing weather. Her brow was furrowed in what he would usually call concentration, but he knew she didn't have a clue what Iruka was saying. He watched her for a few more minutes before finally deciding that something must be done.

Tenten had finally given up on trying to understand the lesson, and had let her eyes close. She ached all over and couldn't stop shaking. It was when she was on the verge of falling asleep that she felt a cool hand slip over her forehead, she opened her eyes and for a moment, deep brown clashed with pearly white before she closed them again.

"Sensei, Tenten-san has a fever." Neji stared at the teacher as he frowned, then made his way to the back of the classroom. He crouched before Tenten and put his hand to her forehead.

"Hmm…she can't stay like this. Hyuuga-san." He took his hand away from her forehead and looked up to meet the Hyuuga's eyes. "Take her home." He stood up and walked back to the front of the class.

Neji eyed the now fast asleep Tenten before lifting her onto his back (piggyback style) and walking out of the room with her.

He could feel her face pressed against the back of his neck as they trudged through the snow. He didn't know why but he found himself enjoying the sensation of her breath on his shoulder, he pushed the ridiculous notion from his mind and carried on in the direction of her house.

"Neji-san, what happened?" he felt her breath tickle his neck as her muffled voice sounded in his ear.

"You fell asleep" he carried on walking. "Why did you come in today?"

"Because if I stayed at home I'd miss a days worth of lessons" she answered

"Is it that important to you?"

"Yes" she felt tears filling her eyes. "If I don't go to school every day, then I miss out on learning and I can't become a truly strong kunoichi. If I don't become a strong kunoichi, then I can never find out what happened to my family." She slid off of his back and stood in front of him. "Thanks, Neji-san for looking out for me."

"One day won't make much difference to how strong you will get, next time stay at home, I'll help you catch up." He turned away from her and headed to the Hyuuga compound leaving her outside her door. He walked through the snow thinking about the occurrences of the day, he had been concerned for her. He could never let anyone know this but he had been all the same.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Please review, let me know where I'm going wrong or what you liked!**

**I'll post another one when I get more reviews so it's in your interests(unless you don't particularly like this, then it's not in your interests so you don't have to review)**

**love from**

**iHEARThyuuga**

**xxx**


	4. Ramen

**Hey guys! thanks for the lovely reviews! as a reward here is a new chapter! because I love you. enjoy!**

**disclaimer: I don't own naruto**

* * *

Ramen

"Ramen." She grinned at him. He raised an eyebrow in question. "You are coming with me to eat ramen, Neji." She had stopped using honorifics a while ago when he had told her it was unnecessary and irritating.

"I don't…"

"You don't eat ramen, yeah. Right. It's the first day of the school year, what's more it's the last year at the academy. That means we are allowed to go into the village for lunch, and anyway I haven't seen you since last term so I would think it is acceptable for us to go to lunch together without anyone finding any hidden weaknesses of yours. Jeez!"

She didn't know just how close to the mark she was!

He shrugged his shoulders in, what he thought was a nonchalant manner. She smiled broadly at him before grabbing his hand and pulling him through the streets in search of the ramen stall. This, of course, took the Hyuuga completely by surprise and if his emotional control wasn't excellent he may have blushed.

He eventually pulled his hand away from hers but continued to follow her with a small smirk on his lips. They eventually reached the ramen stall and Tenten pushed forward finding a seat at the bar.

"Oi! Neji, I found a seat" he walked towards her and took the seat next to her. She was already half way through ordering when he got there.

"Hmm… chicken, no, pork ramen and miso?" she was looking at Neji now, he realised the question was directed at him.

"Hn"

"Yeah, so that's one pork ramen and one miso ramen please!" the ramen was placed almost instantly in front of them. Neji picked up the chopsticks, inspecting them slightly and bracing himself before he took a mouthful. Hey, this was good!

"Not bad." He half muttered to himself.

"Neji, have you ever been here before?"

"No"

Tenten laughed she couldn't believe that somebody who had lived in Konoha their whole life had never ventured into the fire country's most reputed ramen stall. She stopped laughing after a while, then began to eat again, thinking as she did.

"Neji"

"Hn" he invited her to continue.

" when we get sorted into the genin teams…"

"If, Tenten"

"yeah well, what if we're not in the same team?" she stopped staring into the bowl of ramen now to look him in the eye.

"Tenten, being a shinobi is not about socialising with your friends, it's about becoming as strong as you possibly can and using that strength to protect those who aren't strong enough to protect themselves."

"I know it's just, I'd miss you, that's all." She returned to stirring the ramen with her chopsticks.

"They sort us into teams where the three genin have complimentary chakra and attack styles. Doujutsu and precision with weapons is a very desirable combination, so it is very likely that we will end up in the same team."

Tenten smiled at him, "really?" she continued to eat the ramen with a new found appetite. It was then that Neji realised that he too would miss the closest thing to a friend he had ever had, if they were separated. He returned her smile with a smirk. As always.

This would be the first of many lunches eaten at Ichiraku's.

* * *

**Thankyou for reading again! I really appreciate it! So please go and review now.**

**bye bye**

**love from **

**iHEARThyuuga**

**xxx**


	5. Interesting

**Hi again! not got much to say about this one so... enjoy!!**

**disclaimer: I don't own naruto- incase you didn't believe me by now!**

* * *

Interesting

She sent the kunai spinning across the clearing with a flick of her wrist. He swatted it out of the way with his right hand as he would have done an irritating fly. She pulled two more from her pouch and ran towards him. Unconsciously, she gritted her teeth in determination. He rolled his eyes slightly before grabbing her left wrist with one of his hands and her right with the other, then kicking her straight across the clearing.

She sat up where she had landed, panting harshly. A solitary bead of sweat lazily tracked down the side of her face and dripped off her chin.

"Jeez, Neji. That was rougher than usual, what happened to the _'I use only the force necessary' _approach?"

He was in a foul mood.

They had left the academy two months ago, successfully passing exams and becoming genin under Maito Gai. It was during one of their first training sessions that Neji had made it pretty clear that he would train with no-one else other than Tenten. His point, at the time, being that it was the most efficient way to increase strength, for both of them. He was usually ruthless in these training sessions, never being afraid for his team-mates safety as he knew she was perfectly capable.

However, today he had been harder, colder somehow. He was not training as a necessity but rather as an outlet for anger he had gained for whatever reason.

"weak" and with that, he was gone.

Tenten remained in the clearing in a vain attempt to figure out why he was behaving so strangely. She stood up, eventually and collected her fallen weapons, then sat on a fallen tree at the edge of the clearing. They had only been training for 2 hours and she knew the Hyuuga would never leave a day's training at that, and he would be back within the hour.

After two hours she decided that she shouldn't have to sit around waiting on Neji her whole life and left the training grounds to try and find her team-mate. It would, of course, be asking far too much for her to miss Lee and Gai on the way out.

"Yosh! Gai-sensei, I will join you in 1000 press-ups, such is the fire of my determination! Although let's double it and make it 2000 press-ups!"

"Lee! Your youthful energy bursts forth in a manner which is most beautiful and; entirely representative of spring!"

"GAI-SENSEI"

"LEE"

"GAI-SENSEI!"  
"LE…"

"SHUT UP!!! Jeez! Do you two ever do anything else!"

"Gai-sensei, something tells me the youthful flower of our team is troubled"

"I AM NOT TROUBLED!!! Look, do either of you know where Neji went?" Tenten inwardly rolled her eyes, could they be anymore annoying?

"Yosh! Lee, we have a mystery on our hands, the fearsome warrior of our team went missing up to 3 hours ago, we need to gather data and evidence."

"Hai, Gai-sensei we must immediately compile a list and cancel out places where Neji-san is not."

"Hmmm, he's not in the training grounds, write this down Lee, he's probably not in the female section of the bath house, he won't be at the pet store, and it's unlikely that he's at the roller disco. Wait! Tenten, does Neji like roller skating? Tenten? Tenten?!…"

Truth be told, Tenten had left the moment Gai told Lee to take notes, she didn't have time for this.

She wandered through the village, looking for possible places the Hyuuga could be. In fact, she looked for over an hour before deciding to head home. It was when she was half way there that she realised that she hadn't checked the Hyuuga compound yet.

She saw him immediately, he was leaning against the wall, eyes closed and arms folded. As soon as she approached, his eyes snapped open.

"Neji, what is up with you today? And don't act all emotionless on me! You've been venting anger on me all day."

He sank down to the ground, still leaning on the wall, Tenten moved to sit beside him, taking his hand in hers.

"Tell me"

"you don't need to know"

"I do so spill!"

"It doesn't concern you"

"What!? Of course it concerns me, you're feeling down, and you're my best friend, I care about you!"

"You care? You don't care, you never have"

"wait!! You can't say that! I don't care?! I don't!! Of course I care, Neji! I lo…" she gasped, putting a hand to her mouth. Neji narrowed his eyes slightly, then smirked. He gave her hand a squeeze before standing up.

"Interesting" he smirked again before walking away towards the main building.

* * *

**Thanks for reading, if you liked it review please, if you didn't sorry! same old, won't update till I get some reviews!**

**love from**

**iHEARThyuuga**

**xxx**


	6. Shelter

**Hi again! sorry for taking a while, but also sorry for the poor poor quality of this chapter, I apologise a very very lot!**

**oh well. try and enjoy it anyway.**

**disclaimer:I do not own naruto**

* * *

Shelter

"Don't give me that! You could have warned me that the river was deep!"

"I didn't feel it was necessary. It's not my fault you ran straight into it.""

"Come on give me a break! You called it a ford! A ford is like a puddle!"

"Last I knew it was a ford"

"For real!? What else are your eyes good for Hyuuga 'cos you're clearly not using them for looking!"

They were on a mission, being only an escort C rank, it should have only taken a day. However on their way back Tenten had underestimated a river depth and consequently had fallen in up to her neck this of course meant that she was now soaking much to her annoyance.

Neji had seen her falling before she had come even close to the river and was there to pull her out of the water seconds later. It was then that he realised there was no way he could allow her to run all the way to Konoha in wet clothing and they would have to find shelter and stay the night, thus making them late to report in to the godaime, much to his annoyance.

"It's usually traditional to thank the person who pulled you out of the river"

"yeah well, thanks a bunch. No really. What would I do without you?!" She shook involuntarily as a gust of wind blew through her frame.

"Come on. We have to find shelter and get you dry before you get a fever" Neji walked ahead along the riverbank. There would probably be a cave or something along the cliff. He finally found the perfect place he turned around to motion for Tenten to hurry up.

"Firewood" He offered as an explanation before disappearing again, he came back a few minutes later carrying an armful of wood and two fish. He lit a fire in the mouth of the cave and set the fish on two sticks in the centre. He turned to Tenten who was now hugging her knees to herself and shivering despite the warmth given off by the flames. He reached into his pack and pulled out a spare pair of shorts and a white t-shirt.

"Here" he handed them over to Tenten before getting up and leaving the cave.

Tenten took off her wet things and put on the spare clothes the Hyuuga had previously given to her. Several minutes later Neji returned and sat next to her.

"Thanks Neji. I mean it this time." She met his eyes for a brief moment before blushing slightly and tearing away.

He said nothing but passed her a blanket from his pack. She smiled at him a wrapped the blanket around her moving closer to Neji as she did so.

"Sorry. For not noticing. The river I mean." Neji pulled the fish out of the fire and handed one to Tenten. They ate in silence and continued to sit by the fire as the sun sank below the horizon and the night became dark. Tenten's eyes were heavy and she was having trouble keeping awake, the crackling fire had a hypnotic effect on her and it didn't take long for her to fall asleep, slumping to her left, her head fell on Neji's shoulder.

Meanwhile… 

"Lee-san, Gai-san. It seems that the remainders of your team have not yet returned from their mission. Usually I would not act for at least 3 days however being as the Hyuuga is involved, for him to be late is disturbing to say the least. I propose you follow them and ensure they are ok." Tsunade leaned back in her chair. She had only been hokage for a few weeks and all this mission assigning was taking it out of her. The two in front of her bowed before leaving the office.

They ran as fast as they could tracing the footsteps of Tenten and Neji. It wasn't long before they reached a river.

"Gai-sensei! I can see smoke leaving a cave further down stream! Is this a youthful attempt at survival from Hyuuga-san?"

"Hmm Lee… this looks interesting. We should approach immediately!"

They ran to the cave and stopped at it's mouth. Peering round the edge they saw the source of the smoke, being a fire at the entrance. Beyond the fire were two figures lay on the cave floor, One of which was wrapped up in a blanket, the other lay behind the first with an arm slung round her waist in a protective yet almost tender manner. The former rolled over in sleep onto the latter's chest, a hand instinctively grabbing the cloth of his shirt.

Gai and Lee retreated from the cave mouth, grins on their faces.

"Yosh! Lee our youthful flower has found love in her teammate. This is a moment of springtime affections and of youth! It fills my heart with joy!"

Lee looked on adoringly at his teacher.

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

* * *

**If by some miracle you actually enjoyed this then please review! if not, sorry. Again! please review or I won't update!**

**love from **

**iHEARThyuuga**

**xxx**


	7. Hn

**Here's the next one, I really liked writing this one so I hope you like reading it! anyway, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is mine!!! MUAHahahahahaha!!! ok just kidding, Naruto is not really mine.**

* * *

"Hn"

It was the middle of November, outside it was tipping it down, the streets of Konoha were completely deserted, but so was the rest of the village, except for two people. The first of which was Hyuuga Neji, who, today, was waiting outside the entrance to the main house. He had forwarded a request to Hiashi and awaited the answer today. He stood facing the door completely upright and with his hands at his sides. His eyes almost bore straight through the door, almost, but not quite. It is, after all, considered an offence to use Byakugan on members of the main house.

After what seemed an age, the door was slid open and another branch member invited him in. He walked down one of the corridors and slid open the doors at the end. The room beyond them held all of the elders and Hiashi. This was not good, elders only turned up to punish and cause pain.

Neji knelt in the center of the room facing the row of vacant stares. A couple of the elders looked at him with disdain and there was silence for a moment before a man seated to Hiashi's right cleared his throat.

"Hyuuga Neji, two weeks ago, approached Hyuuga Hiashi-sama, the head of the Hyuuga clan, and requested that he considered going against all Hyuuga traditions and make branch members on equal with the purer blood Main house. After due consideration Hiashi-sama brought this request to our attention for formal permission. After an absolute lack of due consideration, it had been decided that not only was it entirely impertinent of said branch member to address his superior in such a way, but such a notion is completely disgusting to us." The man sat down again resuming his contemptuous glare. Neji balled his hands into fists, digging his nails into his palms.

"Furthermore.." a small woman, with long grey hair tied into a bun on top of her head. "I believe it was 12 years ago that Hyuuga Hizashi was here before us, requesting the very same thing. He too thought it necessary to interfere with our traditions, and found himself in quite the situation was it 10 years ago? Like father like son" she spat.

"Leave my father out of this, he gave up his life to save his brother and you repay him by speaking of him as vermin! Leave him out of this!" Neji stood up.

"The idea that lowly branch member as yourself would think himself an equal with us, the pure bloods, is quite repulsive. I presume after we've removed everyone's curse marks, you'll want us to allow you to live outside the compound?! The only thing worse than a branch member is a branch member who does not know his place. We will not acknowledge your request and never will. Never bring this up again unless you want to go the same way as your despicable father."

Neji turned and stalked out of the room, throwing the door shut behind him. The woman who had let him in attempted to escort him, but when she turned to ask him to follow her, he was already gone.

The second person out in Konoha was Tenten, she was walking to the old forge where the man who made all her weapons lived and worked. She held an umbrella over her head as she walked through the empty streets. When she finally reached her destination a small man wearing a dirty apron looked up from his work and waved at her.

"Tenten-san, hello! I've completed your order, 20 kunai, am I right?"

"Thank you so much Gito-san! Oh wow, they always look so beautiful when they're new! I really can't wait to use them, hang on a minute, I've got the money right here" She rifled through her pockets, eventually producing the notes required.

"Someone's in the money!" Gito laughed as he counted the notes before putting them into the pocket on the front of his apron.

"Oh I just finished an A-rank mission, and it turns out the pay wasn't so bad this time." She winked at him.

"Well I'm glad for you! Have fun with these ones, I strengthened the handles for you so they can withstand the chakra strings. Oh and by the way Tenten-san, that Hyuuga boy I see you with so much walked passed here earlier, he appeared to be looking for you and he seemed in a foul mood especially for him. I think you should probably go and look for him. He really seemed upset." Gito looked her in the eye as he said this, for a moment he had a serious air about him, but that was soon replaced with the usual smile.

"Oh, well, thanks Gito-san. Thanks for the kunai but I have to go now so bye!" she smiled brightly at him and waved as she walked away.

'_Neji where are you?!' _she thought as she searched through the forest near their training ground. She had to admit that he had to have something seriously wrong to not be training right now.

Neji stopped in the clearing, breathing harshly. He'd lost his Hitai-ate and hair band somewhere en route and now his hair hung over his face as he leant on his knees to catch breath. He eventually sank down on the grass, legs bent and arms resting on his knees. He sat there for a while, lost in his thoughts.

He was brought back to reality at dusk when he felt someone sitting next to him.

"Not the best meditation position. If you ask me." Tenten smiled at him and he looked up meeting eyes with her. She tipped her head to one side, as if in thought then spoke again.

"You know, you are already more than their equal. All of them put together. You don't need to do anything to prove it because we all know it already."

"Who?" He looked down at her, showing raw emotion in the rarest of moments.

"Lee and Gai-sensei, for starters. Then there's the rest of the rookie nine even Hinata, and of course me"

"You?" he looked down at his hands again.

"Yes me, doofus!" She pushed him lightly. "This.." she reached up to trace the now uncovered mark on his forehead. "This, does not define you. To me, you define it."

Neji reached up and took her hand in his. "Thank you" he squeezed it. Then stood up pulling her with him. "What would I do without you?"

"Who knows?" she grinned and he pulled her into a tight hug, holding her against him as if to soak her in, the comfort she provided. He loosened his grip on her so he could see her face. She reached up cupping a cheek in her hand and then, taking her completely by surprise, he leant down capturing her lips in the briefest of moments in a feathery kiss. He let go of her abruptly and turned away slightly.

"Training tomorrow then?" Tenten grinned at him and in another rare moment he smiled back nodding his head slightly.

"Hn".

* * *

**Thanks for reading, I hope you had fun, now please review, it takes like no time and I really appreciate it! also no update till I get reviews so yeah.**

**love from**

**iHEARThyuuga**

**xxx**


	8. Solo

**Hi sorry for the wait, really bad block right now. Also sorry that this one is totally rubbish. oh well.**

**disclaimer: No owning of any kind going on here**

* * *

Solo

She came to a halt at the spot that the villager had directed her to. According to the elderly woman, this area was where the attackers returned every morning. She stood behind a tree in the clearing and looked for abnormalities, here was where she could really do with Neji's eyes.

"Well well, what have we here?"

_--Flashback--_

"_A…a solo mission?"_

"_Yes, Tenten we need subtlety. Hyuuga-san has traits, which make him instantly recognisable as a Hyuuga and therefor a ninja and Lee-san wears so much Lycra that it would be ridiculous to send him. Besides all men have a weakness and I can guarantee that it isn't one of those two." Tsunade leaned forwards on the table, resting her chin on her hands and her elbows on the table. _

"_So… you want me to … to seduce them?"_

"_I'd like to say no, Tenten, I really would. Seduction is always the last resort, don't compromise yourself unless there is no other option. Their base is in the south of waterfall country and as far as I know there are no ninja amongst them so the mission should be relatively simple, you just have to find proof that it was them behind the recent attacks."_

_Over the last few weeks, in the Fire country there had been attacks on military bases and many people had been cruelly slaughtered. It was clear that the attacks had been to locate Konoha and the attackers were getting closer._

"_So… can you accept, Tenten. Our village is depending on you, I'm depending on you."_

"_Yes" Tenten replied in a small voice looking at the floor._

"_The mission commences immediately, you may collect any tools necessary but that is all. If you can; take them down, if not; we'll send a fully operational team."_

"_Thank you, Tsunade-sama"_

_--End flashback--_

Tenten spun around to face a tall man wearing some form of mask, she couldn't tell as it was too dark.

She instinctively pulled out a couple of kunai in defence.

"Ah ah ah, you're in the wrong so I think I will be taking the first move." She watched horrified as he began to form seals with his hands. _'I thought Tsunade-sama said there weren't ninja' _She threw the kunai but he deflected them with his arm, and before she could reach for more she felt something tighten around her until she could barely breath, looking up she saw ropes which appeared to have come straight from his hand. He pulled hard and she fell hitting her head, everything went black.

She awoke to a sharp pain in her right elbow, she cried out.

"Awake?" another masked person, this time a woman, asked. "Good, then you can tell me where you came from" Tenten shook her head, she wasn't about to betray her village and it was likely that Neji would never speak to her again if she was so weak.

"Come on it's not that hard." The woman mock coaxed. "TELL…ME…WHERE…YOU…CAME…FROM!!" she lifted the senbon, stabbing her with it with every syllable. Tenten screamed out with pain. Everything went black again.

She awoke to this several times, a different person every time, she would black out every time but as time went on she became unaware of it's passing, unaware of who it was that was hurting her, unaware of anything except the pain and hunger.

She vaguely heard the door open, someone walked over to the table, then the clinking of metal, she gritted her teeth, preparing for the pain. It came. She screamed. Then she heard another sound, the door hit the wall as it was slammed open.

A gasp.

A thud.

Then…

She felt cold metal against her wrists and ankles as the ropes were cut, then an arm around her back as she was lifted. She passed out at this point.

When she re-awoke, she was lying on a bed, light flooded in through the windows, and filled the room, which she instantly recognised to be Neji's. She propped herself up on one elbow, wincing as pain shot down her back. A hand pushed her back down into the pillows.

"Don't move" Neji's face came into view.

"N…Neji? Why?"

He looked at her without speaking.

"Tsunade-sama sent you after me?" she looked at the ceiling.

"No" Tenten stared at him in disbelief, he reached for her hand, stroking it with his thumb, letting go again when he realised what he was doing. He stood as if to leave.

"Don't…" Tenten reached for his hand , "Don't leave me."

He turned to look at her a look of incredulity on his face. "I won't." He sat back on her bed, reaching to stroke a tendril of hair behind her ear. Then leaned back lying on top of the sheets, next to her. She rolled over, her eyes already closed, into him, clutching his shirt.

"I… I need…" he looked down at her. "I need you to hold me… Neji" she turned red but he understood. A single tear tracked down the side of her face. He drew her to him, kissing her on the forehead and resting his chin on top of her head. "I, won't _ever_ leave you, I can't, because I… I love you." She couldn't hear him though. She was already asleep.

* * *

**Thanks for making i this far, if you did please review really please please please. No updates till i get reviews so yeah.**

**love from**

**iHEARThyuuga**

**xxx**


	9. Following

**Hello readers! I hope you enjoy this one, I thought it was okay but not brilliant so... anyway enjoy!**

**disclaimer:I don't own naruto**

* * *

Following

"Tenten, will you please stop following me." Neji spoke in the packed Konoha streets.

He did not turn around, to Tenten this was obviously because he probably felt it unnecessary and therefor inefficient to turn around and face her. To Neji it was because when he saw her he couldn't control his actions, and a loss of control is very inconvenient. Today was one of the few days that team Gai had off, usually they would be training in the clearing or on a mission somewhere, but; 'under orders' as Neji had put it. They were refraining from doing anything that wasn't 'celebrating their youth' as Gai had put it. So anyway, it turned out that Neji left the clearing immediately so as not to waste any time. Tenten, out of habit, followed him. Except in reality as purposeful as the Hyuuga looked, he really didn't have a clue where he was going, and they have been wandering round Konoha for about an hour.

"Tenten"

"What?"

"You're still following me."

"No shit Sherlock." Tenten scowled, to be honest she had hoped he had something interesting to do but then again, what else did he do that didn't involve training and missions?

Neji rolled his eyes, smirking slightly at the term she'd used.

"So, Hyuuga. Are you going to do something this afternoon or not?"

"…"

"Oi! Hyuuga! I'm behind you!"

"I am aware of your current position Tenten."

She reached out, in what could only be boredom converted into temporary frustration, and gave a sharp tug to the ends of his hair. He whipped round to face her, at the time thinking something along the lines of: _'I am actually going to kill her she better start running because I am not holding back'. _Of course, he didn't kill her. Mainly because when he caught her eye, his thoughts were immediately converted to something like: _'Oh god, why does she look so good when she's angry?'_ He allowed himself a satisfied smirk, then turned around and continued walking.

Tenten jogged a little to catch up with him then walked next to him. Then, without warning, grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the side of the street where a new iron mongers had just opened.

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"What?"

"Weapons? Because you clearly don't have enough of those, Tenten." he said sarcastically

"Well have you got a better idea as to how we're going to spend the afternoon? Besides, as a matter of fact I don't have enough weapons." She dragged him inside to the dark shop.

The floor was dirty and covered in bits of half worked metal, around the sides of the shop were baskets and trays full of basic weapons such as shuriken and kunai. At the back of the shop was a fire with an anvil next to it, a man was hammering a piece of metal on it, which Tenten immediately recognised to be the blade of a katana. From the ceiling hung bundles of cloth used for binding the hilts of kunai, mainly. In one of the corners was a stack of finished katana and a few spears.

He watched as she wandered around the shop stroking each blade lightly, her eyes were sparkling and there was a flush of excitement on her cheeks. He had to admit that it was at moments like this when he realised how much he valued his team mate. It was in this realisation that he strode to the back of the shop, to where the stack of newly made katana lay glinting in the firelight.

He let his eyes slide over them and one near the front caught his eye. Granted, it was not the most extravagant blade, the scabbard was black leather, not wood, incrusted with mother of pearl and opals and rubies and every other precious stone. It was just leather. The quality of the blade itself looked good, it was supple and light but carried enough strength to cut through hard wood as though it were butter. The hilt was probably steel, like the blade and was also bound in black leather finishing with a small amount of metal poking out the end and a red tassel handing off the base. He picked up the katana and approached the monger who was now whistling loudly through his teeth.

Tenten stood by the door, examining kunai, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Neji thrust the long thin package in her hands. She opened it slowly, shuddering with delight as she saw the katana lying in the wraps.

"Wow… Neji why did you… I mean… thank you!" Neji looked at her blankly.

"Your techniques have been getting predictable, I believe you haven't used a katana before, it might make things a little less… boring." He turned around and, noting the sun dipping blow the horizon, began to walk back to the compound, he'd be glad when he could get back to training again. All this; 'youth celebrating' was making him do strange things.

"Tenten, you're still following me."

* * *

**i hope you liked it, please review, no updates till i get reviews.**

**love from**

**iHEARThyuuga**

**xxx**


	10. Happy Birthday

**Hi again, this is a really speedy update I know. Also cause this is drabble no. 10, it's a special Tenten orientated one. I liked writing this so I hope you enjoy reading it!**

* * *

Happy Birthday

Tenten sat on the low wall, her legs up. She twiddled the kunai absent-mindedly between her fingers. She was bored. She lay back closing her eyes; a voice woke her from her dose making her sit up suddenly.

"Happy Birthday Tenten-san, you're 19 right?"

"What? Oh, yeah. Hey Hinata; do you want to train with me today?" Hinata blushed slightly at the casual tone that Tenten addressed her with.

"What about Neji-niisan?"

"He has a mission today."

"Oh."

Tenten swung her legs off the wall, jumping down lightly to stand next to Hinata.

In the past the two girls had not got on too well, Hinata being far to shy to ever approach the older kunoichi. Tenten, having always seen Hinata through Neji's eyes, felt she was weak and too submissive. This all changed, however, just after the chunnin exams, when Tenten saw the younger girl for who she really was during the fight against her cousin.

Over the years since then the two had become almost like sisters, and whenever Neji wasn't around Tenten often trained with Hinata.

They meandered through the village, heading for the training grounds.

"So, Hinata..." Tenten grinned as she looked down at her. "How's it going with you and Naruto?"

Hinata blushed a deep red at this and pushed her fingers together as she thought of the answer.

"It… It's good." She smiled to herself, and when Tenten didn't ask her anything else, she relaxed again, letting her hands fall to her sides.

They reached the clearing and began to spar almost immediately. Hinata didn't have kaiten, like her cousin but that didn't mean to say she was less of an opponent. They sparred for a good couple of hours Tenten spinning weapons at Hinata, who would just as easily catch them and fling them back, or deflect them at the very least.

Hinata finally brought Tenten down with a kunai to her leg; they stopped at this point. Sitting under one of the larger trees she bound her leg before they shared her lunch.

"Tenten-san, if you don't mind me asking…"

"Hinata just say it! You know I don't mind!" Tenten rolled her eyes as the younger girl's eyes widened at her sudden outburst.

"Well, what about you and Neji-niisan"

"What about us?"

"You asked me about Naruto-kun, so I'm asking you about you and Neji-niisan."

Tenten rolled her eyes again at this; this seemed to be Konoha's favourite question right now. She leant back on the tree closing her eyes before answering.

"We're best friends, team mates, sparring partners, what more do you need to know?" she asked sarcastically. She opened one eye to see Hinata smiling slightly, in what could only be described as a knowing way.

"Oh come on! He's a Hyuuga for god's sake!"

Hinata raised one eyebrow at this in a spitting image of Neji.

"Yeah okay, I know, you're a Hyuuga too, right? Well he's a special brand okay!" she sat up again to put all her weapons carefully away. Curiosity eventually got the better of her.

"Why do you ask anyway?"

"Well, you spend so much time at the compound that you practically live with us. Whenever I see him out in Konoha you're never too far behind. You're always going on double missions. He will train with you and only you. And besides Tsunade, Hanabi and me, you are the only female he will so much as acknowledge."

"We're team mates" Tenten said again fingering the tassel on the end of the katana he'd bought her a year previously.

"He also asked me to give you this." She held out a small box wrapped in white paper and tied with a black ribbon.

Tenten took it tentatively pulling the ribbon lightly and folding back the paper. To reveal a box made from reeds. Inside the box was a plain looking chain with a compass on the end. Tenten gasped, pulling it out of the box, turning it over to show a watch face on the other side. In the bottom of the box was a small piece of folded paper, it read;

'_Tenten,_

_You have no more excuses; stop being late and getting lost it's just plain annoying._

_Neji_

_Ps. Happy birthday'_

She smiled and passed the note and chain to Hinata to read.

"Maybe a bit more then team mates?"

"Wow Hinata that was brave. Run!"

* * *

**Thanks for reading, now please review, i'll update when I get some reviews!**

**love from **

**iHEARThyuuga**

**xxx**


	11. More

**Hi again! This one was really hard to write and I guess it turned out okay I guess. Please read and I hope you enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: Let's be honest. Would I be writing fanfics if I owned Naruto? right.**

* * *

More

Tenten walked across the clearing picking up her fallen weapons, she sat down to count them all, then realised that one of her machete was missing.

"Neji, have you still got the machete I lent you? Where is it?"

He handed it to her with a grunt. She ran her finger lovingly down the blade, this one was her favourite. To her horror she noticed one unmistakable fault.

"Hyuuga Neji, did you bend this machete?!"

"Hn"

"What do you mean 'hn' I lend you a weapon and you bend it and you're not even going to say sorry?!"

He shrugged his shoulders turning to pick up his jacket.

"You can buy another." He was going to pay for that.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU JUST SAID THAT!!" she stormed over to the tree he was leaning on. He raised an eyebrow, smirking slightly. She stood on tiptoes in an attempt to intimidate him into apologising.

"Why don't I ruin something of yours then lets see how you feel!" She reached forwards grabbing a handful of his hair, pulling it hard. The reaction was almost instantaneous. He closed his hand around her wrist, covered her other hand with his and slammed her into the tree behind them. She stopped shouting, staring up at him; eyes wide with surprise.

"Shut up." Was the only sound that came between them before he stole her lips.

They stood, crushed, against the tree. Fighting, furiously, she wrenched her hands free and brought them up to his hair, digging her fingers into his scalp. He pulled her closer with his now free arms; forcing his way into her mouth. They wrestled like this for several minutes before she pulled away, gasping harshly. Neji let his hands fall back to his sides and redid his hair, so it looked as though nothing had happened.

"Training tomorrow." He said matter-of-factly before turning and walking away from her.

"Neji…" He turned around eyes staring at her blankly. "We… need to talk."

"About?"

"This, Neji! For the past few months we've barely been able to spend a day together where it didn't end like this." He raised an eyebrow.

"It's lust, that's all."

"For you, maybe." She muttered. He frowned.

"What?" suddenly he was next to her again.

"I…I just. I'm confused Neji. I mean, one minute you're my best friend the next we're making out. What are we? I don't want to be friends who lust after each other."

"You want more?"

"I…I don't know, maybe, I don't know. Just stop, stop playing with my feelings Neji." She bent down to pick up her weapons pack and walked to the edge of the clearing.

Tears ran down her face as she went home, the only two outcomes of this that she could see were: them carrying on like before as though the conversation never happened, or him treating her like he did every other female in Konoha; as little as possible.

She arrived at the clearing the next day, carrying her usual equipment, expecting the worst. She was surprised to find it empty and sat on a tree stump waiting; Hyuugas were _never_ late she suspected that he had cancelled without bothering to tell her. He probably didn't want to see her after yesterday.

He strode into the clearing empty handed. _'No pack?'_ She thought. He ignored her and sat on the floor, crossing his legs in meditation. After what seemed like an age he finally spoke.

"Do you still feel the same, as yesterday?" his eyes remained closed.

She nodded, had he not been endowed with a doujutsu he would not have seen her reply, but a slight incline of his head told her that he had.

"Why?" She asked in a whisper.

"I want more… too, Tenten." He opened his eyes and walked over to where she was sitting and held his hand out to her. She took it and he pulled her up.

"I want… you." They stood, staring intently into each other's eyes, he pulled her to him and she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Hinata will be thrilled." She said grinning at him.

"Hn".

* * *

**Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it, pleasereview, I won't update till I get some reviews so yeah REVIEW!**

**Love from **

**iHEARThyuuga**

**xxx**


	12. Fracture

**Hello everyone, really really sorry I haven't updated for like ever! I don't think this ones that good but whatever. I hope you enjoy it! **

**Disclaimer:I don't own naruto or any of the characters in this fanfic.**

* * *

Fracture

Neji stood opposite her, he lifted his hand trying to feel for something to gauge where he was. He turned in every direction each time stretching his hands out in front of him, it made him look vulnerable, like a child. Almost. He lifted a hand to his eyes, tugging at the black material there.

"Hyuuga! Don't even think about it!"

She jumped down from the tree, and stood before him.

"Is this necessary Tenten?" He indicated the bindings round his head.

"Look, do you want to improve or what?! You have to learn how to fight without your eyes! And no cheating! Right, lets go." He dropped into defensive stance, sticking to what he knew.

She came at him from the left, he turned his head towards her, and when he heard the sound of approaching metal, he began to spin, deflecting the projectiles. Before he could execute this he felt a dull thud on the back of his neck and he stumbled to the ground.

"Decoy" he murmured, rubbing his neck. "This is harder than I thought."

He stood up again, trying to find where his opponent had gone.

"Over here, Hyuuga" He turned facing her again.

"Go."

She sped at him again, full on this time, katana raised. He lifted an arm to block the blow, successful. She grunted as he punched her in the stomach. But before he knew what was happening, she was behind him, a kunai held to his throat.

"I win."

"_You_ can see."

She shrugged, pocketing the kunai. He reached up pulling the cloth away from his eyes.

"Well, if you don't want to learn, I don't care." She turned away from him, grinning to herself.

"I do." He stood up, watching her back. "Teach me, Tenten. Teach me how to fight."

She turned around again, smiling at him. She reached up and kissed him on the cheek, lingering to speak.

"Hmm, never thought I'd live to hear those words! Lets go Hyuuga."

He retied the bindings letting his hands fall back to his sides again. This time he was ready, he heard the sound of her foot falls getting closer to him, they stopped several feet in front of him, however she had been running at full pace when they had stopped to just stop would have been impossible. She must have jumped. He took a couple of steps back, and raised his arm above his head.

The blow was hard, he felt the weight of her through the sheathed dagger. Twisting round, he delivered a sharp jab to her left shoulder she fell to the ground with a thud. He heard her standing up again, and the distinct clink of metal. He used jyuuken on her before she could attack, a sickening crack filed the air as his hand made contact with her right leg.

He ripped the blindfold from his eyes, her face had become a shade of grey, her lips were no more than a thin line and her eyes were squeezed shut. A lump midway down her shin indicated that the bone had broken and was close to puncturing the skin. He turned away in distaste.

"Hyuuga… hospital…now!"

"I'm sorry"

"I know… Now, can we... can we go?!… I need drugs" She groaned as he bent down and picked her up.

She leant on her crutches, watching the leaves fall as Neji unlocked her front door, and waited for her to enter the house.

"I _am _sorry, Tenten." He closed the door behind them she hobbled passed him towards the door of her bedroom, and tried to slide it open with one of her crutches, to no avail.

Neji stepped in front of her and slid the door open for her, she fell onto her bed, lifting her leg up after her.

He folded his arms across his chest, and raised an eyebrow as he watched her trying to ignore him. At 23 she still acted the same way she had a 5-year-old he smirked.

"Next time, you can train with Lee!" she snapped glaring up at him. He unfolded his arms and walked over to her side, he leant down to her level and whispered in her ear.

"You don't mean that" she looked sideways at him, jeez staying angry at the Hyuuga was harder than it looks. She rolled her eyes. He smirked.

"Good" He kissed her on the forehead "see you tomorrow then."

* * *

**Thanks for reading! hope you liked it, if you did please please review it really means so much to me cos it's you guys that I write this for so, yeah! review!**

**love from **

**iHEARThyuuga**

**xxx**


	13. 6 Days

**Really really sorry that it took sooo long for me to update, It's been kinda hectic for me at the moment as we're in and out of hospital a lot visiting my mum, who has recently discovered she has cancer. I don't know why I'm telling you that it's totally irrelevant but anyway, I've been a little busy! So I hope you like this one, I'm actually pretty pleased with it but yeah! Read and enjoy!**

**Disclaimer:I don't own Naruto**

* * *

6 Days

The clouds drifted lazily across the sky as a small boy played by himself under a willow tree, his dark hair licked his face in the breeze. A man stood a few metres away, leaning slightly on a low wall. His pale eyes watched the child avidly and as the first rain drops fell towards them, he stood and strolled towards the boy.

"Haru, it's time to go." Haru looked up into his father's eyes.

"Time to visit Mum?" Neji paused looking down through the rain, then crouched down to Haru's level. "Yes"

"And you're coming too? Dad? Will she be awake yet? Has she slept enough? Is she still tired?"

He started to cry, his tears mixing with the rain on his face, a salty river.

Neji reached out to his son and pulled him into a hug, then still holding the boy, he stood and headed back towards the village, and the hospital. The five-year-old sat in Neji's arms and played with the hair at his father's neck twirling it absent-mindedly between his fingers.

_-----Flashback-----_

_Tenten glared through the downpour, the steam rising from the forest was making it difficult to see. It was getting dark and she had hoped to be back in Konoha, back home by that evening. _

_She could picture Haru waiting in the window now, his nose pressed tight against the glass, greasy hand prints left where his hands had been five minutes previously. Neji would be writing mission reports, or doing something else equally practical, at the kitchen table. He would look totally engrossed, but she knew that he could never take his eyes off of their son._

_She swore as she tripped over something she could not see and turned back to see a stubborn tree root where she had fallen. Tenten turned around, trying to find a hint as to where about she was, a rustle in the undergrowth caused her to stop mid thought, she pulled a kunai from her holster and a scroll from her top pocket. _

_She inwardly rolled her eyes and almost laughed out loud with relief when a stoat emerged from the base of one of the trees. Then, in the light provided by a fork of lightning, she saw a cave that she had spent the night in with Neji almost 20 years ago. She knew exactly where she was. Turning to face the rough location of Konoha she set off again, this time at a sprint, she didn't like rain and wanted to get home as fast as possible. _

_As she neared the village she began to get a familiar sense of uneasiness, unable to shake it off, she stopped in the mud and turned to scan the scene, it was at times like this when she really missed Neji, he would be perfect for this. It was at that moment that a senbon flew towards her, in the rain it was hard to see, and it had probably been the attackers aim to go unseen, however as someone who worked with weapons every day, she couldn't miss the unmistakable whistle of steel cutting through air. _

_She leaped skywards, tumbling through the air with all the composure and accuracy of someone who had been doing this for 25 years. Landing on one foot she cursed as she felt the joint crumble. This was going to be a close one._

_He came towards her then, black cloth covered his entire face except for his eyes. She saw the glint of metal in his hand too late as he slashed her right arm, severing the tendons in her shoulder. The wound was by no means fatal, but she wouldn't be able to use that arm for this fight. _

'_He's good' she thought, gritting her teeth as she felt the warm crimson mingle with the icy mud soaked sleeve of her top. Reverting to her left arm, she engaged him in a fierce struggle for life, her right arm flailing painfully behind her. _

_She slipped and felt the earth rise up beneath her, he placed a foot on her chest and held her down a grim satisfaction lit his eyes. In one swift movement he swapped his foot for a hand, kunai pointing at her heart. _

_Caught like a rabbit in headlights, she did what came naturally and slipped a hand into her pocket, retrieving another kunai, lifting it behind him she brought it down onto his back, feeling it puncture his flesh. Wincing as she felt his puncture her flesh. Eyes widening in shock, he was sufficiently paralysed for her escape, she rolled him off of her and sped towards the village._

_Standing at the gate she swayed slightly as her vision blurred, although her abdomen was tightly bound, the blood had flown too thick and too fast and now she could barely stand. As she sunk into the mud she saw a tall figure with a green vest running towards her._

_Slamming the door behind her, Tsunade stormed across the ward towards the bed at the far end._

"_Sakura, what happened here?" An elegant woman in her 30s with pale pink hair turned to face her master._

"_We can't be sure until she wakes up but there is a knife wound to her abdomen, all the tendons in her right arm are cut and her left ankle is crushed. She is stable finally, but I'm worried about the effect of oxygen starvation on her brain. She may never wake up." She said the last in whisper then looked into Tsunade's face as the hokage made her assessment. _

"_Give her a week at most, she will wake up"_

"_Tsunade-sama, should I contact her family?"_

_Tsunade paused in the door, thinking. "I'll send someone to the house" With that she swept out of the doorway leaving Sakura to tend to the unconscious Tenten._

_-----End Flashback-----_

Neji strode through the hospital doors and stopped in front of the reception desk. The girl sat behind the desk smiled up at Haru who was now sleeping. He signed his name on the signing in sheet and stalked past her, pushing the door open with his left hand. Pausing for a moment to shift Haru's weight, he carried on down the corridor.

When they reached the room he stopped. Haru stirred in his arms and opened his eyes slowly. Neji lowered him to the floor and reached for the door handle pushing open the only thing standing between him and his wife, this would be the sixth day he'd visited her, would she be any different? Could he let go of the breath he'd been holding since she waved goodbye to him at the gate almost two weeks ago?

As her bed came into view he sighed with relief, the corners of his mouth turning up in what was unmistakably a smile.

"Long time no see." She croaked, a tear leaked out of the corner of her eye.

"Mum!"

* * *

**The very last bit is Haru by the way! just in case you were worried about my idea of pet names for Neji and Tenten! **

**Did you like it?! I hope you did! Please review this time! No reviews, no update.**

**love from**

**iHEARThyuuga**

**xxx**


	14. Gossip

**Hi again! Sorry it took so long to update. Again! anyway, please read and also review, I hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: Come on guys! Do I really own Naruto?-that's a no.**

* * *

Gossip

Umino Iruka, teacher at Konoha academy strolled down the corridor. He was closing in on 45 now, and although he had never been promoted to Jonin, rank. It was not because of a lack of skill, and it wasn't because of laziness. The truth was, Umino Iruka liked the simple life, he liked to watch the young ninjas grow up around him, and best of all he liked to teach them the things he had learned as one of them. And yet, although it was no secret that he disliked life threatening situations, and would rather teach an attentive student the 96th code of ninja conduct than risk his own life; he was never accused of cowardice.

On this particular morning, Iruka was running a little late, it wasn't a big deal as the class full of ten-year-olds were perfectly capable of managing themselves for 20 minutes. He rounded the corner of the academy street, and pushed open the gate, the playground was empty which meant they had at least taken themselves into the classroom. He looked to the corresponding, ground floor window, and upon hearing a sudden crash sprinted towards the classroom.

Haru leant back in his seat slightly, closing his eyes. Iruka-sensei was over fifteen minutes late and he'd got bored of waiting, he heard someone sit down next to him and he opened one eye, seeing a short girl with blonde hair and pale, lamp-like eyes, he sat up and smiled at her. She put a book under the table and turned to face him.

"Hi, Haru-niichan. How's things?" She grinned at him.

"Fine thanks, hey where's Hikari-chan?"

Hitomi and Hikari Uzumaki were identical twins, and being the daughters of the main branch of the Hyuuga household, they spent a lot of time with Haru and had become like sisters to him.

They carried on talking to each other for a while until a voice drifted across the classroom.

"…Just be glad you're not a Hyuuga. Talk about a loveless relationship. My mum was saying to me earlier that Hyuuga Neji-san cares only for himself and if she was in Tenten-san's shoes she'd…"

With the crashing of an upturned table the round faced speaker found himself pinned to the wall with a kunai against his throat.

"She'd what?!" Haru breathed heavily, "SHE'D WHAT!!?"

"I…I, well…"

"TELL ME!!!" tears of fury filled his eyes and his hands were shaking.

Hitomi ran towards them and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on Haru-nii, what do they know? It's just gossip. Just leave these losers to themselves. Right?"

The door slid open and Iruka-sensei ran into the room, he pulled them apart and as he was trying to get the class to at least shut up whilst he dealt with the two involved, one of them ran.

He ran out of the room again to try and catch up with Haru but it was too late. As he stood out in the street looking up and down he saw a pink haired woman with a clipboard in one hand and a chewed biro in the other.

"Hey! Sakura-san!" He waved at her and ran over to where she was standing.

"I'm having student troubles, do you think you can watch my class whilst I deal with it?" She smiled at him, then put the biro into her mouth thoughtfully.

"Hmm… I have an hour free now, but then I'm needed at the hospital. I was going to go to the spa but I guess…"

"Great! Thanks a lot! You're a life-saver!" he leant on his knees to catch breath then ran back inside to try and get something out of the other boy involved. And to get hold of Tenten.

* * *

Tenten lay panting on the grass, surrounded by weapons. "Aren't you going to go even a bit easier on me? I'm your wife!" 

Neji raised an eyebrow and smirked at her. "Then it wouldn't be training"

"I guess, you could at least help me up."

"Naturally" He held out his hand and when she took it, pulled her up.

"Is that the phone?" She ran inside banging the back door behind her, perhaps a little over enthusiastically. Neji rolled his eyes and followed her in. He could hear her in the kitchen, he leant on the counter and watched her as she sat on the table, twiddling the cord in between her fingers and swinging her legs.

"Hello?… Oh hi! What is it?… Oh god what's he done…He what!!… are you sure?… well where is he now?… What do you mean you don't know!… What? No it's fine, we'll find him."

She hung up and ran a hand through her messy hair.

"What is it?" Neji picked up the papers she had knocked to the floor when she had jumped down from the table.

"Haru, He attacked someone and then he ran away. They don't know where he is."

"It'll be fine." He gripped her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "I'll go and find him."

He strode out of the room and didn't need to pause to think. He knew where he'd be.

Haru stood in the clearing swinging weapons and limbs at the tree stump. He wasn't upset, he was too old for that. He was furious.

"How long have you been here?" A cool voice could be heard over the sounds of metal hitting bark.

"An hour."

Neji jumped down from the branch and stood in front of his son. He looked down into his eyes, willing him to speak to him. "What happened?"

"I don't know. I got angry and I just… lashed out."

"Haru, you don't do angry. What did they say?"

"Nothing." He raised one eyebrow.

"It was about you… and mum"

"Was it true?"

"No!" He wiped away a tear with the back of his hand. Neji hugged him quickly then stood up again.

"Haru, gossip is for small-minded people, don't waste your energy on them. They're not worth it." He put his hand on Haru's shoulder. "Come on, mum's waiting."

* * *

**Thanks for reading, please please please review! I'll update when I get some reviews. **

**Love form**

**iHEARThyuuga**

**xxx**


	15. Knitting take 3 AN:Yes I am a Pillock

_**Hello again! sorry about the long wait on this one guys, it took ages for inspiration to come, annoying I know! Trust me I finally get an idea and it's 2 in the morning! oh well! I hope you enjoy reading this!**_

**_disclaimer: I am too poor to own anything, let alone Naruto!_**

_

* * *

_

Knitting

_-----Flashback-----_

"_We have to report back to Tsunade-sama." Neji looked at his wife waiting for her response, he was expecting the usual rolling of the eyes, (a trait she had picked up from him) perhaps a smirk, (another learned trick). She would then launch into an attack on him stating the obvious (entirely her own nature). This time, however there was nothing. Feeling, a little disappointed (In honesty, he only ever stated the obvious to wind Tenten up. Anger was her most amusing trait) he nudged her slightly waking her from her daze._

"_Huh…What? Oh sorry Neji, did you say something?"_

"_Hn"_

"_Sorry, really. I just… have a lot on my mind at the moment that's all. After we report to Hokage-sama I going to stay behind to talk to Sakura-san, so don't bother waiting for me." She smiled at him but he stared back at her with a hollow glare._

"_Neji? What's the matter? Has Lee been giving you spicy food again? Jeez! I told him you wouldn't want him to cook for you. I knew he wasn't listening as well! All that muttering about youth and nature and bonding! I'm going to kill him."_

"Are_ you joking? You know I'd never touch his food." Neji smirked at her._

_Tenten laughed out loud and took his hand._

"_I will tell you. Just not yet." He nodded and then knocked on the Hokage's door._

_Neji sat at the kitchen table in the apartment he shared with Tenten, and wrote up the report of the mission. Although he was technically of the same rank as Tenten, he knew how much she hated write-ups and was glad of it too. She was, to put it bluntly, rubbish. He looked up at the clock which now read 7:30 pm she was almost an hour later than he had anticipated. He signed off the final document and folded the papers before slipping them into a provided envelope and pushing it into the top draw in the filing cabernet. That is when he heard the door close. _

"_Only me!" Tenten called as she threw her keys onto the chair by the door and dropped several heavy bags next to the fridge._

"_It's 7:30" Neji closed the draw and stooped down to kiss her as she moved to sit at the table._

"_Yeah, I guess I was talking to Sakura-san for longer than I expected and then I had some stuff to do in the village. I got some take out from Ichiraku's it's in the brown paper bag." Neji bent to pick up the bag and removed the contents, the clanging of pots and pans could be heard as he set about heating them up._

"_What's in the other bags?" _

"_Oh just some books I got from the library, hey I'm just going into the other room for a bit, I'm wiped out." She picked up the other bags as she went leaving Neji on his own in the kitchen._

_After several minutes of stirring and waiting, the ramen was hot and he poured it into bowls taking them with him into the bedroom. He put one down on the dresser and one on the bedside table next to Tenten. She was pouring over some sickly pink paperback book. He grunted softly._

"_Oh, thanks, I'm really hungry actually." She closed the book and put it on the table next to her._

"_Knitting?"_

"_What?" Tenten looked up. Neji pointed at the book; 'Knitting for Beginners' _

"_Why Knitting?"_

"_Oh well, I saw some women doing it in Suna and thought it looked kind of cool so I figured why not learn how to do it myself, and as they say; no time like the present." She took a mouthful of the ramen._

"_Oh" Neji finished his bowl and went out to wash it up. _

_Standing at their only window he heard the faint clicking of needles then it would stop and Tenten would curse, there would be a pause and then the clicking would resume again. He sighed then went back in to the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed she was lying on._

"_Tenten, is there something you're not telling me?" He tried to catch her eye but her brow was furrowed in concentration and she was focused on the tips of the oddly senbon-like tools._

"_Tenten." He touched her arm and her hand slipped sending the needle sailing into her hand. It ripped the skin and drew blood, but only a little. She cried then. At first only one tear fell down her right cheek but it was followed by a torrent, she gripped the bleeding hand with her other and bent over it gritting her teeth and squeezing her eyes shut. _

_Neji wondered what had got to her so much that she was in this state. He rose and fetched the first aid kit bringing it back and sitting on the bed again. She'd calmed down by now and he took her hand in his as he cleaned the cut and bandaged it._

"_It didn't hurt that much. What's really wrong?" He tied the bandage but kept hold of her hand, putting his other hand on top. "Tenten! Whatever it is I can't help if you don't tell me. I'm your husband, Tenten, does that not mean anything to you?"_

"_Yes of course it does Neji but I…"_

"_Tell me."_

"_Well, I…" she fiddled with the duvet in her fingers. "I… Neji, I'm… I'm .Oh hell! Neji, I'm pregnant."_

_He surveyed he face for a few seconds watching as she bit her lip and clenched her fist under the duvet. Then he leant forwards and hugged her briefly then pulled away again. _

"_I'm pleased." That was it. Simple. _

"_You… you are?" he nodded "No buts, no unfortunatelys, no howevers?"_

"_Well…"_

"_What?" her eyes glistened with the recent display of emotion. "Neji what is it!"_

"_We will have to get a bigger place." She hit him and he smirked._

"_I'll get you for that Neji-sama."_

_-----End Flashback-----_

Eleven years later Neji walked home from the Hokage's office after reporting back from a month-long mission. As he walked passed the academy he saw students spilling out through the door, he paused as he saw Haru running towards him and waving.

"Father, you're back!" Neji smirked at him and turned to walk home. They, or rather, Haru Chattered as they walked turning through busy streets until they reached the house.

Neji pushed open the door and stepped inside as Haru ran ahead.

"Mum? Mum?! Guess who's back Mum!" He ran into the sitting room. Tenten looked up from her lap and smiled at them.

"Neji you'd better watch out. Haru is going to be taller than you!" Haru frowned.

"Mum, what are you doing? Are you _knitting_?"

"As a matter of fact I am." She smiled at Neji and he smiled back. He didn't have to say it. She knew he was pleased.

* * *

**Hope you liked it, if you did don't be shy review, review your hearts out! then maybe, if you're lucky I'll update!**

**love from**

**iHEARThyuuga**

**xxx**

**ps. just so you know, after the flashback, Haru is eleven so during the flashback he hasn't been born yet ok?**

**pps. ok really sorry about this that I keep changing this and all especially to people who have me on alert sorry guys! basically somebody just pointed out that this chapter is my love for cryptic writing gone mad. Here's the rest of the deal starting from now.**

**Basically, the flashback is Neji reminiscing about Tenten when she told him about being pregnant with Haru. After the flashback (when Haru is 11) Neji is on his way back from a different mission (on his own this time) and when Neji and Haru walk into the room, Haru notices that Tenten is knitting, which is strange to him as he has never seen her doing something so feminine before but Neji (having seen her knit once before) knows at once why she is knitting (incase you're still stuck it's because she is pregnant again.) So anyway she gives him a special I'm pregnant smile and he gives her a I know in a good way smile. See? I'm really sorry again guys I know I was way too cryptic on this one. If you did get it though; good work detectives!**


	16. Weapons Mistress

**Hello readers! Sorry for the wait, it feels so good to be online again and I want to say a massive thankyou to everyone that's reviewed, I really appreciate them! Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: no ownership here**

Weapons mistress

As they sat behind a jagged outcrop, panting, his cool eyes met her determined glare. He reached into the top pocket of his Jonin vest and produced a scroll, handing it to her. "It's Tanna, one of mists missing nins, be careful."

"Thanks," she breathed heavily and then indicating the scroll; "I ran out."

He raised an eyebrow at her, smirked and re-tied his hair, pulling the loose strands out of his eyes, allowing him to think.

"Just because I can't see as well as you, doesn't mean I don't know where you are. Come out fight like real ninja." The voice rang out across the river.

Funny how a simple C-rank mission could turn into an A-rank in a matter of minutes. Although, the Hokage had anticipated this, which is why he had chosen to send one of his best two-man teams. Uzumaki Naruto could be surprisingly capable when put into an authoritative seat, and when advised by Nara Shikamaru, his chief strategist.

She grinned at him briefly, her eyes flashing at him, before stepping out from behind their haven. No sooner had she revealed herself than she was slammed back into the rock by a flurry of kunai and senbon, which seemed to have formed from the river.

"So, came out to play. Pretty good, for a girl. You were lucky that time, try avoiding them again!" Tanna lifted his mask an inch, allowing them to see the yellow glint in his eye, before he let it drop again.

She heard a noise behind her like somewhere between a small cough and a soft laugh.

"Laughing are we? I don't see what you find funny seeing as you let her do all the fighting. Always fights your battles does she?"

Haru flicked his long dark hair over his shoulder nonchalantly, studying the sky for a moment before returning his cold gaze to the missing nin across the river.

"No, this is her battle now, and I don't fancy your chances against a Konoha weapons mistress."

"Too right you misogynistic pig!" She pulled the scroll out and ran her thumb down the length of it leaving a dark trail. Pulling out weapons and flinging them across the river as she did so. He was agile and dodged accordingly, only the last of the kunai struck which clipped him on the temple, a trickle of blood ran under the mask.

Tanna pulled back into aggressive stance forming seals with his hands, as he did so weapons flew out of the water and sped towards the weapons mistress. She ducked and weaved deflecting remainders with a katana in her left hand.

Having successfully avoided the torrent, she flung her remaining weapons at Tanna, feeling a sense of satisfaction as one of them hit home and the ninja fell. She watched his lifeless body for a moment before turning round to gloat to her team-mate. Haru smiled at her then turned around to pick up her head band which had been flung off in a fit of rage earlier. She turned back to the river and noticed, to late the all too living face of Tanna, who in his last moments had found the energy to traverse the river and pull himself onto the bank on their side. It all happened in slow motion, The kunai rose out of the water and sped towards them she had run out of weapons and he had his back turned to the river. Before she knew what she was doing she threw herself in front of Haru grunting when the kunai, hit her left shoulder, the force of it knocking her backwards into her team-mate.

"Fuyu!" He caught her and lay her down on the ground at his feet, the turned to Tanna. He didn't give the enemy a chance to register, he strode up to him and struck him, hard to the heart, watching as the life left his eyes, with a frown on his face.

He marched back over to Fuyu who had propped herself up against the rock, the Kunai had disintegrated as its creator had died, she was now struggling with a roll of bandages. Her long dark hair fell over her left shoulder, some of it sticking in the blood. She grinned up at him but he did not smile back. He took the bandages off her and ripped off her sleeve, wrapping the bandage around her lower shoulder.

"Haru, please." She touched his cheek, he brushed away her hand.

"You promised, you promised you wouldn't do anything stupid this time."

"I didn't! Haru! I saved your life."

"You dived in the path of a weapon for someone who has 360˚ vision, I call that stupid."

"359. I…I… I saved your…" His mouth twitched, his eyes twinkled at her. "you're joking. Haru you pig!"

He laughed leaning back onto the rock next to her, still grinning.

"Thank you, little sister." He kissed her forehead and ruffled her dark hair.

The thirteen year old pushed him over moving to sit on his stomach in an attempt at keeping him down.

The twenty four year old reached up, tickling her stomach until she rolled off him and lay in the grass next to him.

"Come on, Lee will have kittens if we don't get back at least one hour before the allotted time."

"Fine, but can we go and get Uchiha-san to sort out my arm, She's good at it and dad will kill me if he sees this" she nodded at the roughly tied bandage with blood still trickling out of the bottom.

"I was going to anyway, mum wanted me to invite Sakura-san over and dad's going to kill you anyway." He pushed his hands into his pockets.

"Why?" She met his eyes with her own silvery glare.

"Because you completely failed to tell him you were coming out on this one with me and we got delayed by a day."

"Crap".

**Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! Please review, it would be great!**

**Love from**

**iHEARThyuuga**

**xxx**


	17. The End

**This took me ages and I can safely say was the hardest thing I have ever had to write. I hope you enjoy reading it, this is the last one guys so it's quite sad. sorry!**

**Disclaimer: I dont own naruto**

* * *

The End

"Tears." Lees voice rang around the clearing, inspite of the heavy rain. "My tears are indicative of my love f..for our b..beautiful flower." He paused, placing a hand over his mouth, struggling to regain composure. "It is fitting" he continued. "It is fitting that even the heavens shed tears for the loss of my youthful teammate, my comrade. My best friend. Goodbye, Tenten." Neji gritted his teeth, trying to maintain his front. The anbu captain next to him touched his arm briefly. "Father?" Harus muffled voice reached his ears.  
"Hn" he turned to face his son, who lifted the mask revealing bloodshot eyes. He reached an arm out and clapped him on the shoulder. "Haru.." he said, staring the 28 year old in the eye. "I have to go. Look after your sister"  
Haru nodded curtly, "For how long? Father"  
"A while"  
"Don't go, Dad!" Neji blinked slowly and looked over harus shoulder to see the tear-stained face of his daughter. Haru reached for her hand and squeezed it.  
"He has to Fuyu" he muttered to her and then, to Neji, "We'll be waiting."

Neji turned away from them, all of them. He couldn't face the crowd of friends, comrades and aquaintences. Lee had said that they should rejoice, that Tenten was now as free as the wind which whistled under the warped window frame in their bedroom.  
Now all he wanted was to join her.

_--Flashback--_

_He stood frozen in the doorway, incredulous as to why he had found his wife, who he had thought was on a mission, lying in the hospital bed before him.  
"What..?" He struggled to find the words.  
"I'll be just down the corridor. If you need me...I.."Sakura pursed her lips, tucked her biro into her pocket and left the room, stopping only to give Neji a sympathetic glance. He shrugged it off.  
"Shouldn't you be on a mission?" He folded his arms, raising an eyebrow.  
"Neji..." Tenten tried to sit up but failed and floppedback into the pillows. Neji frowned slightly, and stepped forwards sitting in the chair by the bed.  
"Tenten, what's wrong?" He took her hand.  
"I'm sick, Neji"  
"How long have you known"  
"About a month"  
"Is it serious?" "I... it's getting worse, and they can't cure it, Neji. I'm dying." Neji gripped her cold hand. Noticing for the first time, how thin she had gotten and the hollows under her unusually lifeless eyes.  
"How much longer." He whispered, not daring to speak incase his voice broke.  
"two months. Three maybe. I was going to tell you, I was going to tell...to tell.." tears fell down her face, hitting the duvet.  
"It doesn't matter, not now." He stood up as if to leave.  
"Don't go. Please." He frowned again.  
"Never." He replied, lifting the duvet and climbing into the bed, pulling Tentens head onto his shoulder.  
"I want to go home." She whispered as she fell asleep._

_--End Flashback--_

The rain didn't stop, and Neji did not return to his children, until a week later. It was Haru, talking to the guardsmen at the gate, who saw him first, looking older and more tired than he had ever seen him. Neji stopped at the gate, leaning against the wall to catch breath.  
"Father? Father?! Father!!" Haru ran towards Neji, catching him as he fell. He lifted him easily and turned back to the gate to be met by a stony silence from those who had witnessed a Hyuuga fall.

Neji awoke in the same bed Tenten had died in, checking the room, noting only haru, keeping his eyes closed.  
"Awake?" Haru gazed at his father, Neji grunted and opened his eyes staring past Haru. Neji propped himself up on the pillows with some effort. The sight of his ruined father was almost too much for Haru and he could only be thankful that his younger sister had not been there to see it.  
Haru let go of nejis hand and made to leave,but was stopped in his tracks by his father who had lifted a hand to grip his elbow.  
"Haru." He said, looking him in the eye for the first time. "Don't ever think you weren't enough, that I don't value you as my true son, my only son. Don't ever seek to blame. Don't ever hold back on your feelings." There was something in Nejis eyes which seemed out of place. The arrogant spark had left them, and all that was left was the empty shell.  
"Father?" Haru crushed Neji in an unexpected hug, understanding all too well the meaning of his words.

The moon lit a patch of the bed and Neji watched it intently. Haru had gone home a while ago with Fuyuu, who had not wanted to leave. Lee now sat at his side assuming that neji was asleep.  
"Lee." Neji broke the silence, surprising his friend with the weakness of his voice"  
"Lee, do you believe in an afterlife?" "Nejisan, more than anything I believe, I believe in love. Love is strong enough to conquer even death, so yes I believe in an afterlife. I believe in your afterlife." "Tell me." This caught Lee off guard as he had never heard the stoic, head of anbu operations, stripped of his usual emotional walls and sounding so vulnerable.  
And it was on the night of Hyuuga Nejis wedding anniversary that Rock Lee told him everything he believed in starting and finishing with Tenten. When he had finished, Neji was leaning against the pillows with his eyes closed looking younger and happier than he had done in three months.  
"I'm tired." Neji eventually sighed. A single tear rolled down his cheek from under his closed eyelid. He drew a shuddering breath and then his whole body relaxed into the bed clothes.  
"Neji san?" Lee touched his friends hand. checking his wrist for a pulse. Nothing. But when he looked at his face the corners of Nejis lips were turned up in what was unmistkeably an expression of true bliss.

* * *

**Sob this is the last one. ever. I really hope you enjoyed reading these including the last one, even though it was a bit sad. I really appreciate all the reviews people have written for me throughout the process and you guys have obviously helped me hugely. Not just with tips and advicereguarding the fic but motivatonally as well. so yeah. Thanks y'all! please show your appreciation for the last time by reviewing. I really want to know your thoughts on any of the fic but especially the last chapter. Thankyou again.**

**love from**

**iHEARThyuuga**

**xxx**


End file.
